Girl Meets Perspective
by FangirlForever95
Summary: Riley doesn't see everything. These are the missing moments between Maya and Lucas that we don't see on the show. Lucaya ship, but friendship/angst centric.
1. Girl Meets Friendship

Girl Meets Friendship

Maya rolled her eyes. She was holding a horse. Maya Hart, the subway-taking, hotdog-eating, coffee-drinking New Yorker, was holding onto a horse.

'Don't you dare poop.' She told the animal, tapping her foot against the floor. 'The things I do for you Riles.'

But Riley wasn't there. Riley, like most of the other students, had gone home, excited for tomorrow's election. Riley's campaign for Princess had been going as well as could be expected, and she'd been enjoying it. She'd told Maya how grateful she was for the video, and the horse-turned-unicorn, all of it, a million times. Maya didn't really need a thank you. Riley's smile was the thank you. SHe wanted to be a princess, and she _deserved_ to be a princess. And if Maya had anything to do with it, she'd be one.

She heard the clacking of high-powered-lawyer shoes before she saw Topanga winding the corner of the hall with a hat box in her hand. Even Topanga Matthews looked startled by the horse again, and by Maya holding it, one of her impeccably arched eyebrows rising at the scene.

'How do you keep getting that thing places?' She asked Maya, who just shrugged.

'A girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do,' she replied, glancing at the horse, which seemed to be looking back at her. 'Don't ask me what I had to do.' She deadpanned, shaking her head with a shudder.

Topanga laughed. 'Okay, kid. Here's what you asked for,' she said, brandishing the hat box before putting it down on the bench outside her husband's classroom. 'What did you want with it, anyway?'

'Riley will tell you tomorrow,' said Maya, smiling. 'If it actually works that is. One of the key components isn't in place...But yeah. Riley will tell you. It's a surprise,'

'You're a good friend, Maya,' Topanga told her, leaning over to give her a one armed hug. 'Why are you still here?'

'Jimmy's coming to pick up this stupid unicorn. I told Riley not to wait.'

'Okay, well, I have to get back to the office. See you tomorrow?'

'Yeah. I'll be there at 7:30,' Maya said, waving Topanga off.

It was another five minutes until Key Component Two showed up.

He was wearing a red JQA Athletic Dpt t-shirt and jeans, and the dust on his hands reminded her he'd just finished baseball practice. The scowl on his face reminded her that he was mad at her. She didn't blame him. What she did wasn't nice, she knew that. He just didn't get what it meant to do everything for your friends. Or maybe he had it all figured out, where the line was, what right and wrong meant. He probably did, being Mr. Perfect Moral Compass and all.

Then he caught sight of the horse.

'Hey,' he said, pointing at it, 'It's not a unicorn.' His sarcasm rivaled her own.

'Don't tell anyone. You're the only one who could figure that out. Us city dwellers don't know the difference.' Maya shot back, rolling her eyes. 'Look, I need you to do something,'

'Are you going to run that story?' Lucas asked, as if that was an answer to her request.

Maya considered this. She gripped the horse's rope tighter. She sighed. Then she narrowed her eyes and spoke. 'Riley won't win if I don't.' She admitted. Like world domination ever had a shot. But president did. A cute, nice, caring, sweet, Mr. Perfect president would beat a lovably naive princess any day. Unless they outed him.

Lucas frowned. 'Riley really thinks that's the right way to win?' He asked incredulously.

Maya shook her head quickly. 'No, she doesn't.' She said honestly. 'But she's not the campaign manager, I am. It's my job to make sure she wins.' _It's my job to make sure she's happy._

'So, _you_ think that's the right way to win?' He pressed, crossing his arms over his chest. It suddenly occurred to Maya how big he was for their age. And how menacing he could look when he was angry.

She shrugged. 'Right or wrong doesn't matter. My best friend is more important than right or wrong.' She didn't bother to tell him that they weren't leaking the recording. What she said was true. She'd have run it if Riley had let her, because Riley was more important than what people thought of Lucas, and what Lucas thought of her. 'Which brings me back to what I need you to do,'

She'd expected him to retort something like "Why would I help you?" or something to that effect, but he just uncrossed his arms and strode across the distance between them to pet the horse's nose.

'If it's taking the horse home,' he joked, glancing down at her with that smile of his that seemed to come so easy, 'I can't. My mama wouldn't like it,'

'No, Ranger Rick, I don't want you to take the horse home. But I do want you to ride it,' she said, to which Lucas just blanched. 'Tomorrow,' she explained, 'after the election, you're going to go and get the horse from outside the gym and ride it in. Then you're going to ask Riley to get on the horse, and come for a ride with you,'

'I'm gonna...' Lucas said, trailing off as he processed this. 'Okay. Why am I going to do that?'

'Because. Riley's not going to win tomorrow,' said Maya, sharp twang resounding on her heartstrings, 'but she still deserves to be a princess. And if people aren't going to make her feel like one, you still can,'

Lucas nodded slowly, something about his face twisting slightly. Maybe he felt bad that even Riley's best friend thought she wouldn't win, or maybe he felt bad because it was so obvious he was going to. Maya couldn't tell.

'You want me to give Riley a ride on a horse, so she feels like a princess?' He clarified.

'Yup. Nothing makes a girl feel like a princess more than a prince on a white horse,' Maya said, handing the horse's rope to Lucas so that she could pick up the hat box.

'So, I should give you a ride, too,' Lucas said, only a trace of humor in his voice.

Maya gripped the box needlessly tightly as she turned around. 'Why would you think that?'

'You said nothing makes a girl feel like a princess-'

'I know what I said,' Maya told him jokingly. 'But I'm not the kind of girl who feels the need to be a princess.' She wasn't the kind of girl who people saw like that anyway, aside from what she needed.

Lucas studied her for a moment, and Maya felt herself broaden under his gaze to protect herself from the scrutiny. 'I thought every girl wanted to feel like a princess,'

Maya scoffed at his sweetness, at his country fresh smile, at his eagerness to understand her. 'Yeah, well, not me, Sundance.' She laughed, holding up the box. 'This is-'

'What do you want to feel like, then?' He asked her. Maya swore she could feel the exact moment blood rushed to her cheeks. A sweat broke out over skin.

She gulped before answering. 'To feel like someone values my opinion, I guess? Like someone sees me and thinks I have something to add,' she said honestly. And then, shocked and disturbed by her openness, added, 'You know, besides my joie de vivre and stunning good looks,'

Lucas laughed at that, glancing down at the ground and then back up at her, his turquoise eyes seeming brighter than they had a minute ago. 'You're more than both those things, Maya. Everybody knows that,' he said quietly, still smiling. Maya smiled back, until she realized this whole thing felt a little too intimate. 'Besides, I think wanting that makes more sense than wanting to be part of a monarchy anyway,'

'Don't say that when you're on the horse, okay?' She rolled her eyes and handed him the box, swapping it for the horse's rope. Lucas took the box and lifted the lid, frowning in confusion at its contents.

'What is this?'

'It's like a princess crown costume thing. Some relic from Riley's mom's theatre days...or maybe she just dressed like that back then, I don't know. Anyway, it's for you to give to Riley once you're on the horse,' Maya explained. 'I was going to get a crown but this had more significance. What?' She asked when she noticed Lucas looking at her. His expression was somewhere between admiration and amusement.

'It's just...you really would do anything for Riley, wouldn't you?'

'Yeah, of course. She's my best friend.' Maya asserted easily. 'But I'm not dumb. I know the rest of the class isn't going to vote for her. She's a princess, not a queen, you know? I only nominated her to make her princess wish come true. Now it can,'

'With a little help from her campaign manager,' he added with a wry smile. Maya narrowed her eyes. 'I mean, the rainbow and unicorn show can't happen without someone behind the scenes,'

'Don't make fun of her.' Maya warned the cowboy. 'Riley is the best person in the world, and if you're not going to take this seriously, I'll get Farkle Castro to do it.'

'I didn't mean anything by it,' Lucas insisted, contrite. 'I just meant...I don't know. It's nice of you,'

'Just call me the fairy godmother,' Maya said, rolling her eyes again. 'Anyway, clear on the plan?'

'Yeah.'

'Stash the box in your locker Huckleberry, and I'll see you tomorrow,' she said, hoping Jimmy would turn up soon to collect the horse. She and Riley still had to finish editing their special video project for tomorrow.

Lucas nodded, smiling at her once more before starting off down the hall. She watched him retreat, realising that this was the first time she had seen him in a color that wasn't blue or purple for any length of time. Just as she was thinking this, he turned back.

'Hey, Maya,'

'What's up, Ranger Rick?'

'How'd you know I'd do it?' He asked. 'I mean, I was kinda mad at you when I showed up. How'd you know I'd do this horse thing?'

'Because it's for Riley,' Maya said with a shrug. 'I figured you'd do it for her,'

Lucas's smile fell slightly, a frown settling in his features. Then, as if he realized he'd just revealed something he shouldn't have, he straightened up, and composed his expression.

'Do you...' he started, taking a deep breath, 'Do you want me to wait with you?'

'No, that's okay, Cowboy, you go. Jimmy will be here any second.' She said, and then she sighed into the otherwise silent hallway. 'Yeah, okay. If you're not doing anything,'

Lucas smiled, walked over and put the hatbox down on the bench. He climbed up and sat up on the ledge, his feet on the bench. Maya joined him, still holding onto the horse, which turned its head to look at the unlikely pair.

'So,' Maya said, her voice as level as she could manage. 'I hear you're not doing anything this weekend,'


	2. Girl Meets First Date

**So, quick Author Note before the beginning of this Chapter. If anyone wants to review or message me with a correct Lucas life timeline, feel free. Because on the GMW Wikia page it says he was born in 2000, which would mean he was 15 in Season 1, which would make him two years older than everyone, wouldn't it? So I counted back, and Riley and Maya should be 12/13 in 7th grade, which would mean Lucas would be turning 14 that year, which would mean he was born 2001. So my theory is he started 6th grade in Fall 2011, 7th grade in Fall 2012, and then got kicked out of school during the year and then started 7th grade again at JQA. If that doesn't make sense, someone please correct me!**

Maya was mad. Okay, she was always mad, but this time, she was exceptionally mad. _This is what happens when you try to help people_ , she thought to herself, _you end up with a date you didn't want, an upset best friend, and aching feet after a long walk to the home of a certain cowboy_. She rolled her eyes. This wasn't Riley's fault. This wasn't even her fault. It was all Ranger Rick's fault.

She'd marched over to him with the intention of pushing Riley. Riley liked Lucas, so it stood to reason that when Maya asked him out, Riley would jump in and stop her. Except she didn't. Maya unexpectedly got all the way through her little popcorn joke without so much as a squeak from her best friend. In hindsight, she probably should have know Riley was too nervous to say anything.

But then he'd said yes. The absolutely clueless imbecile had said _yes_. Typical of Sundance to agree to go on a date with a girl he didn't like just because she'd asked him. He was _so_ that guy. Like when he hung out with Missy Miss Psycho just because she asked him to. He was obviously incapable of saying no. A fact that Maya had perhaps overlooked when she'd put her plan in motion. But she'd only had five minutes to think of it, so sue her if it wasn't fool proof.

Like it or not - and she didn't - it was her mess. Which was why she had to fix it before Riley spontaneously combusted, or worse, starting planning her maid of honor speech for the wedding.

She turned the corner into Lucas's street and started down the tree lined block of brownstones, her heels clacking on the sidewalk. The sun was still out, and everything would soon turn gold, rays of sunshine that leaving patterns on the ground through shadows of the trees. It was a beautiful, quiet street. With nice cars parked outside the buildings and only a couple of nannies hearing children in plaid uniforms down the road.

Maya stopped when she saw the red pick up truck. The first time she'd come here, when she and Lucas were making muffins for their school assignment, she'd automatically guessed which was his house based on that car. Who else would bring a pick up truck to New York? Maya was sure they didn't even sell those things north of the Mason Dixon line.

She'd never told him, but she always thought his house was pretty. Red brick, with white stone steps, and a bushy, flowerless green plant outside. Not a million miles away from the Matthews' building. Except the Friars owned the _whole_ building.

Maya took the steps two at a time and rang the doorbell, which she heard clang out around the house a moment later. Silence followed, but Maya knew to wait somehow. She was sure he was home.

Sure enough, two minutes later the clatter of footsteps came down the staircase and then into the hall, before the door opened.

Lucas looked surprised to see her there, but he smiled anyway, because that's the kind of guy he was. He was wearing a grey t-shirt that said Taft Middle School Quarterback 2011.

'Weren't we in elementary school then?' Maya said, mentally counting back the years. 2012, they would have been in fifth grade. 'Your shirt,' she said, when he didn't answer.

Lucas's smile faded, and he looked down at his shirt, pulling it out so he could read it. 'Oh,' he said, sighing/chuckling. 'It's not mine. It's my friend Jay's. He's a couple of years older than me. He gave it to me before I left Texas. Kind of a _this could have been you_ thing. Because he think's I'd have made quarterback if I'd stayed,'

Maya nodded. 'Whatever.' She said, shrugging. She'd never heard Lucas say so much in one go, and for some reason she suspected that he was the kind of guy to ramble when he lied. 'Anyway, I didn't come here to talk about your shirt.'

'I figured,' he said, half smiling. 'You want to come in?'

'No. I don't want to intrude on your family,' she said, shaking her head. The thought of meeting Lucas's family in her current bedraggled state was not a thought she wanted to entertain. She'd never met them, but she'd been in that house, and she could tell they were proper people. Not Maya's kind at all.

'No one's home,' Lucas replied. The hand that he had against the doorframe fell away, and he stepped aside slightly to let her in. Maya glanced into the warmly lit hallway and then back to Lucas. 'It's just me,'

'I can't, anyway. I have to see Riley after this. Which brings me back to my point,' she said, leaning over punch Lucas in the shoulder.

He was so taken aback he almost wobbled. Almost. 'What was that for?'

'For saying yes to going out with me, you jerk.'

'I- We- You...' Lucas narrowed his eyes, as if he was trying to work out what the correct response was. 'What? You asked me,'

'Yeah, I did, but I wasn't serious. Obviously.'

'I'll try not to be offended by that.' Lucas said, although it looked he was.

'I'll try to be offended that you would do that to my best friend. The girl you obviously like.' Maya retorted, irritated at being made out to be the insensitive one. Had he no idea what was going on? It could not be more obvious if someone had stamped it on his forehead. He had been earmarked for Riley since that day on the subway. Was _nobody_ getting this memo? 'Who agrees to go out with the best friend of the girl he likes?'

'She didn't ask,' Lucas said weakly, trying to excuse himself.

'That's your job, Huckleberry!' Maya crowed, exasperated. 'You were the one who raised your hand in class. You were the one who's been flirting with her all year. It, is, your, job, you, oblivious, buffoon.' She punctuated her last sentence with pokes to the shoulder she'd previously punched.

Lucas, being Lucas, kept his cool, with a relatively blank expression on his face. This whole thing seemed to be a little bit beyond his comprehension. Maya forgave him - Huckleberries can be slow on the uptake. He reminded her so much of Riley sometimes.

'So, you asking me out was...not real?'

'No,' Maya said quickly, pulling out her phone to check the time. 'Of course not. Seriously, Sundance, you're off the hook, I promise. You don't actually have to go out with me.' She laughed at this, and when she looked back up at Lucas, he laughed too, rubbing the back of his neck in relief. 'But you do have to fix things with Riley. Because she's probably crying and planning our wedding right now.'

Just then, the ringing of the Friar house phone interrupted them. Lucas told Maya he'd just be a second, and then let go of the door to go and answer the phone. The door swung open and Maya was again confronted with the tidy, beautifully furnished foyer of the Friar home. There was a warmth about the place, that carried, even out to the stoop. A warmth so inviting Maya was afraid to go in.

'Yes, Mama, I was doing my homework, but then Maya showed up,' Lucas was saying. He laughed at something his mom said, which was when Maya turned and caught sight of his back. More like the back of his T-shirt. Which had _FRIAR_ emblazoned on it in large letters, the same font as the front. Jay Friar? Or Lucas Friar with a secret? 'No, Mama, she's not- yeah, door open, I know. See you soon. Bye. Sorry about that,' Lucas stepped back into the doorway, and suddenly Maya was having a harder time keeping track of what was going on.

'Riley,' she said, because she knew somehow they had to get back to Riley. Then her brain kicked in. 'You have to fix this whole mess with her.'

'How do I fix it?'

'Now you're asking the right questions, Huckleberry,' Maya said, and Lucas smiled again. Maya found herself smiling too. He was like a dog that just wanted to please. A lying dog maybe, but she wasn't sure about what. And even so, it didn't really matter. She was a good judge of character, and Lucas was a good guy. 'Ask Riley out.'

Lucas frowned. 'You're sure?'

Maya ran a hand through her hair. 'Of course I'm sure. Just, you know, do it right. Don't text her or anything, come to her apartment and do it there. And ask her dad first, otherwise he'll kill you.'

'Ask her dad? Seriously? Who does that?'

'What happened to your southern manners, Hee Haw? You forget where you came from?' Maya was only teasing, but Lucas seemed to take it to heart. She briefly wondered if his mom really did put him in the shed for bad manners.

'Okay, Mr. Matthews first, got it. Although I don't think that's going to go too well,'

'I know he acts tough, but he's a teddy bear, I promise. He just wants the best for Riley. But he's a dad. He can't always know what's best for Riley,'

'Maybe he does.' Lucas replied, an unusual heaviness to his sentiment. Maya chewed her lip for a moment, wanting to ask what he meant, but then sure that she wasn't meant to know. Not yet, anyway.

'That aside, this is what Riley wants. Her dad's just taking a while to adjust. If he goes crazy, Topanga will stop him, promise.' She said, laughing to herself. The scene that would soon unfold would be comical. 'I'm going to Riley's. You'll be over in an hour.' With that, she patted him on the shoulder and turned to go.

Then she turned back. 'And by the way, Huckleberry, I forgive you.'

'For what?'

'For not doing this yourself. It's okay. Sometimes we all need a little push,' she said, smiling at him. 'And change your shirt before you come, okay?'

He eyed her curiously, but then nodded. 'Okay. See you, Maya.'

She nodded with a smile, and trotted back down the stairs with a new spring in her step. She'd fixed it. Once again Maya Hart was a superhero, righting wrongs, and sorting out fools. And Riley was going to be so excited. She grinned.

Lucas closed the door behind her, and Maya turned, just to look at it one more time, and make sure it really was closed. Yup. Closed. It looked right closed. Pretty, but hiding something important behind it, away from the world and away from her. That, she supposed, was where the good things were safest anyway.

Pulling out her phone, she snapped a picture of it in the perfect light, right as everything turned gold.


	3. Girl Meets Flaws

Maya would have been lying if she said the knock on the window didn't put the fear of God in her. Her mom was working late and her ferret was not a deterrent to serial killers. But she was Maya Hart, and less than five seconds later she was spinning around towards the window with an expression that would put the fear of God in whatever degenerate had wandered onto her fire escape.

She felt her eyes narrowed and her eyebrows knit together when she saw who was outside her window. She stomped over to open it with one ink-stained hand.

'What?' She snapped, glaring at the intruder.

'That's, um, kind of like hi but different,'

'What do you want, _Lucas_?' Maya sneered, to which the boy just winced, like he was actually in agony. It made Maya feel marginally better, but not much.

'Is it later yet?' He asked, referring to her promise that she'd deal with him later.

'If later means I have to talk to you, then no, it's not later.' She replied with a huff.

Riley was forgiven. She understood why Maya had gotten upset, and maybe she didn't completely agree, but that was okay, because they were sisters not clones. And Maya had no doubt when the time came, Riley would stand up for her, as she continued to do for Riley.

And she was kinda over it, because everyone was insecure about something. Her being short didn't make her any less fierce. She was an Amazon warrior, even if she was smaller than most.

But Lucas had still said it. And it was loud, and public, and it was wrong. Beause sure, she teased him about being Texan, but he wasn't embarrassed about that, he loved his Texan roots. Maya didn't exactly love only reaching his shoulder. After all the time she had spent compensating for her size with her attitude (so what if she had a Napoleon complex?) he'd gone and ruined it with four words. She had never felt so inadequate.

'Maya,' he said now, sliding into her room like he owned the window. she considered trying to throw him out, but that would probably only showcase that she couldn't, and give rise to more teasing. She hated being so insecure around him.

'I just...' He started, looking at her like she was supposed to know what he meant.

'I can't read your mind, you know. You want to say something, say it.' She said, even though she'd have bet her meagre life savings on the next words to come out of his mouth. She didn't know how she knew, she just did. But he still had to say it.

'I know it's late, and you don't want me here, but I just came to say I'm sorry. I'm sorry that you fought with Riley over what I said, I didn't mean to cause that. And I'm sorry for what I said,' he said, looking sombre and suitably chastised.

'Go on,' she said, putting her hands on her hips. When he looked up at her, she jutted her chin forward. 'I know you're not finished. You've got something that say that's going to make the whole apology pointless, but you look like you're gonna burst open and splatter my room with a mix of fruit roll-ups, fried steak, and your Lonestar State underwear. Which I know you have, don't lie.'

Lucas opened his mouth and closed it again, then took a deep breath before speaking. 'I'm not saying I'm not sorry for what I said, because I am. Don't think I wouldn't take it back if I could. But I want you to know I didn't mean it as a bad thing,'

Maya rolled her eyes. 'Right. Because mocking someone about something you know they're not comfortable with isn't going to make them feel like you meant it as an insult?' Maya quipped. 'Would you insult Farkle's turtlenecks? Or the fact that Riley never made it through Girl Scouts because she couldn't get her Gardening badge?'

'Riley's bad at gardening?'

 _Thank you, Friar. That is_ so totally _the point._

Maya shrugged. 'She couldn't bring herself to pull out the weeds. She said it wasn't fair to kill them when they were just trying to live too.' She said. 'But that's not the point.'

'I didn't know,' Lucas said, something grave about his voice. He wasn't looking at her anymore, and Maya couldn't help but wonder why he was so torn up over this.

'Why would you? Riley doesn't really like to talk about Girl Scouts-'

'I meant,' said Lucas, shaking his head, 'that I didn't know that you didn't like that you're...um, that you're, uh...vertically...'

'If you say challenged, I will maim you.'

'I didn't know you didn't like being short,' he managed to say, glancing up from his shoes to check she wasn't coming towards him with a heavy object.

Maya scoffed. 'Who likes being short? You think I wear those monster heels for fun? Newsflash, they make it hard to walk over subway grates, and they hurt. But I do it so I don't have to look up at everybody all the time. So I don't feel so...' She glanced away from Lucas to say the last word. 'Small.'

'I didn't know, Maya,' he said quietly.

'Of course you didn't. Why would you?' She said sardonically. 'I'm Maya Hart, you don't look me in the eyes, I can handle anything. I don't get hurt,'

'It doesn't seem like you do,' Lucas admitted, which surprised Maya enough to look up.

'What do you mean?'

'Just that, you know, you're Maya.' Lucas shrugged, looking even less comfortable. 'You talk to strangers on the subway, you jump on my back to stop me doing stupid stuff, you fight for your friends, you ask people on dates even though you don't want to go, you find a horse to rent in New York City, and manage to get it to a second floor apartment...I never thought something that insignificant could matter to you,'

Maya felt her lips purse. She wanted to smile for some reason. Oh, who was she kidding, she knew the reason. Lucas Friar, the guy who needed help to ask a girl on a date, and who in a few months would realize he'd forgotten to ask his unofficial girlfriend to the semi-formal (Yes, Riley was already talking about it), actually remembered things about her. More than that, he admired things about her. And it was that she _liked_ him or anything, but he was a good guy, like, on Riley level of good, and he thought she was doing something right. That probably shouldn't have mattered to her, but it did.

'I don't want it to,' she said with a shrug. 'But I don't necessarily appreciate it being brought up.'

'Well, I'm sorry about that,' he said again.

'It's okay. Just don't do it again.'

Oh, but Friar wasn't done. 'I really didn't mean it as a bad thing,' he insisted. 'I mean, I like that you're short. No, not like, that I wouldn't like you if you were taller. You'd still be the same person, and I'd like you the same. I just mean you look good, as you are. You're...' he trailed off as Maya became increasingly confused. 'Proportional. You are super proportional. Crazy proportional, really.'

'And you're just crazy.' Maya said, and Lucas laughed. When the laughter died out, Maya didn't quite know what do with herself, or the cowboy in her bedroom. 'We good?'

'If you say so,'

'I say you gotta go, Lucas,' Maya said with a chuckle, ushering him towards the window.

He smiled at her again, and Maya fleetingly admitted she'd have forgiven him for chopping off her short legs with a smile like that. But that thought was fleeting, and silent. It was only when Lucas was half way out of the window that he paused.

'Wait a second,' he said with a frown, 'you keep calling me Lucas,'

'So?'

'So,' Lucas said incredulously. 'Where's the Huckleberry? The Ranger Rick? The Sundance?'

'Nuh-uh,' Maya said, shaking her head. 'Never again. That's what caused all of this, so I'm not doing it anymore.'

'Maya,' Lucas said with an eye roll, slipping back through the window so that he was sitting on the windowsill. Something about the way he was looking at her compelled Maya to sit down beside him, looking up at him with a quizzical expression. 'When I called you that, it wasn't my way of telling you to stop calling me names. I could have asked you to stop a long time ago,'

Maya nodded. 'But you let me,' she said with a small smile that she didn't consciously allow.

'Yeah,' said Lucas, smiling back. 'I let you.'

Just then, a car honked on the street below. One of those prolonged Hey-idiot-get-out-of-the-road honks. It made Lucas jump.

'I gotta go,' he said, nodding out to the fire escape. 'My mom is waiting,'

'Your mom drove you here?' Lucas nodded. 'This late? That was nice of her,'

'Not really,' Lucas said with a chuckle. 'I told her what happened, an she'd grabbed my coat before I'd even finished talking. I didn't really have a choice in the matter.'

Maya laughed. 'I always knew she raised you right,'

'Was that a compliment?' Lucas asked in shock.

'Yeah,' Maya said easily. 'To your mom. Now get out of my room. If my mom comes home and finds you in here you'll be a short stack of bones,'

'Night, Maya.'

Maya moved to let Lucas have the whole window to scoot his freak body back onto the fire escape, lingering to shut it when he started to crawl back towards the stairs.

It was pure curiosity, and maybe a tiny bit of masochism, that made her stick her head out into the cold night air just as Lucas' boots clanged on the metal steps.

'Hey Huckleberry?' She called, which made him turn around with a megawatt smile. 'Why do you let me?'

Lucas stopped moving, the shock on his face eminent. He didn't say anything, just looked straight at Maya with an open mouth. He closed it quickly, and drew his bottom lip between his teeth for a good half a minute, until he opened it again, ready to speak.

'You know what?' Maya said with a laugh, 'it doesn't matter. I'm just glad you do. Night, Sundance.'

She closed her window with a thud and drew the curtains, clutching them tightly. A gulp didn't quite quell the apprehensive nausea, but it would have to do.

And then, just in case the fool came back, Maya leaned over to her bedside table and turned out the light.


End file.
